ROME - The new Chicago-raised Pope Leo XIV faces an immediate challenge in his native country: taming the brawling U.S. tribe of Catholics, riven by political divisions that have thwarted the will of his predecessors.

Many sites associated with past popes’ lives have become museums or holy destinations for the faithful. But Pope Leo XIV’s childhood church in Chicago closed years ago.

Pope Leo XIV was born in Chicago, grew up in south suburban Dolton, and attended the Catholic Theological Union of Chicago in city's Hyde Park neighborhood.